supple


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sup·ple

 (sŭp′əl)
adj. sup·pler, sup·plest
1. Readily bent, folded, or manipulated; pliant: a wallet made of supple leather. See Synonyms at flexible.
2. Moving and bending with agility; limber: a supple gymnast.
3. Adaptable to changing circumstances: "The supple ambiguities of English are a large part of its genius" (Mark Abley).
tr. & intr.v. sup·pled, sup·pling, sup·ples
To make or become supple.

[Middle English souple, from Old French, from Latin supplex, suppliant; see plāk- in Indo-European roots.]

sup′ple·ness n.
sup′ply, sup′ple·ly adv.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

supple

(ˈsʌpəl)
adj
1. bending easily without damage
2. capable of or showing easy or graceful movement; lithe
3. mentally flexible; responding readily
4. disposed to agree, sometimes to the point of servility
vb
rare to make or become supple
[C13: from Old French souple, from Latin supplex bowed]
ˈsuppleness n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

sup•ple

(ˈsʌp əl)

adj. -pler, -plest, adj.
1. bending readily without breaking, splitting, etc.; pliant; flexible.
2. characterized by ease in bending; limber; lithe: supple movements.
3. characterized by mental responsiveness and adaptability.
4. compliant or yielding.
5. obsequious; servile.
v.t., v.i.
6. to make or become supple.
[1250–1300; < Old French < Latin supplex submissive, suppliant =sup- sup- + -plic-, perhaps the base of plicāre to fold1]
sup′ple•ness, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

supple


Past participle: suppled
Gerund: suppling

Imperative
supple
supple
Present
I supple
you supple
he/she/it supples
we supple
you supple
they supple
Preterite
I suppled
you suppled
he/she/it suppled
we suppled
you suppled
they suppled
Present Continuous
I am suppling
you are suppling
he/she/it is suppling
we are suppling
you are suppling
they are suppling
Present Perfect
I have suppled
you have suppled
he/she/it has suppled
we have suppled
you have suppled
they have suppled
Past Continuous
I was suppling
you were suppling
he/she/it was suppling
we were suppling
you were suppling
they were suppling
Past Perfect
I had suppled
you had suppled
he/she/it had suppled
we had suppled
you had suppled
they had suppled
Future
I will supple
you will supple
he/she/it will supple
we will supple
you will supple
they will supple
Future Perfect
I will have suppled
you will have suppled
he/she/it will have suppled
we will have suppled
you will have suppled
they will have suppled
Future Continuous
I will be suppling
you will be suppling
he/she/it will be suppling
we will be suppling
you will be suppling
they will be suppling
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been suppling
you have been suppling
he/she/it has been suppling
we have been suppling
you have been suppling
they have been suppling
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been suppling
you will have been suppling
he/she/it will have been suppling
we will have been suppling
you will have been suppling
they will have been suppling
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been suppling
you had been suppling
he/she/it had been suppling
we had been suppling
you had been suppling
they had been suppling
Conditional
I would supple
you would supple
he/she/it would supple
we would supple
you would supple
they would supple
Past Conditional
I would have suppled
you would have suppled
he/she/it would have suppled
we would have suppled
you would have suppled
they would have suppled
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Verb1.supple - make pliant and flexible; "These boots are not yet suppled by frequent use"
alter, change, modify - cause to change; make different; cause a transformation; "The advent of the automobile may have altered the growth pattern of the city"; "The discussion has changed my thinking about the issue"
Adj.1.supple - moving and bending with ease
graceful - characterized by beauty of movement, style, form, or execution
2.supple - (used of e.g. personality traits) readily adaptable; "a supple mind"; "a limber imagination"
flexible - capable of being changed; "flexible schedules"
3.supple - (used of persons' bodies) capable of moving or bending freely
flexile, flexible - able to flex; able to bend easily; "slim flexible birches"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

supple

adjective
1. pliant, flexible, pliable, plastic, bending, elastic, rubbery, bendable, stretchable The leather is supple and sturdy enough to last for years.
pliant firm, stiff, rigid, taut, inflexible, unyielding, unbending
2. flexible, lithe, limber, lissom(e), loose-limbed Paul was incredibly supple and strong.
flexible stiff, awkward, inflexible, creaky (informal), graceless, unsupple
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

supple

adjective
1. Capable of being shaped, bent, or drawn out, as by hammering or pressure:
2. Capable of withstanding stress without injury:
Physics: plastic.
4. Capable of adapting or being adapted:
5. Willing to carry out the wishes of others:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
لَيِّن، مَرِن، لَدِن
ohebnývláčný
spændstig
sveigjanlegur, lipur
lokans

supple

[ˈsʌpl] ADJ [body, leather] → flexible; [joint, limb] → ágil; [skin] → suave
this will keep your skin suppleesto mantendrá tu piel suave
to keep o.s. supplemantenerse flexible
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

supple

[ˈsʌpəl] adj
[person, body] → souple
[skin, leather] → souple
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

supple

adj (+er) body, material etcgeschmeidig, elastisch; personbeweglich; shoesweich; mind, intellectbeweglich, flexibel; to keep oneself/one’s fingers supplesich/seine Finger beweglich halten
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

supple

[ˈsʌpl] adj (-r (comp) (-st (superl))) → elastico/a, flessibile; (person) → agile
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

supple

(ˈsapl) adjective
(of the body etc) bending easily. Take exercise if you want to keep supple; supple dancers.
ˈsuppleness noun
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

supple

adj flexible, ágil
English-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
References in classic literature ?
But the goddess with a bold heart turns every way destroying the race of wild beasts: and when she is satisfied and has cheered her heart, this huntress who delights in arrows slackens her supple bow and goes to the great house of her dear brother Phoebus Apollo, to the rich land of Delphi, there to order the lovely dance of the Muses and Graces.
Mr Supple, the curate of Mr Allworthy's parish, made one of the company.
No doubt a fair amount of climbing up iron ladders can be achieved by an active man in a ship's engine-room, but I remember moments when even to my supple limbs and pride of nimbleness the sailing- ship's machinery seemed to reach up to the very stars.
So we see, in languages, the tongue is more pliant to all expressions and sounds, the joints are more supple, to all feats of activity and motions, in youth than afterwards.
He did not say good night until she had become supple to his gentle, seductive entreaties.
He beheld her, again, stripped by the savage hands of the torturers, allowing them to bare and to enclose in the boot with its iron screw, her tiny foot, her delicate rounded leg, her white and supple knee.
She looked, indeed, like one of those wonderful boys of the Italian Renaissance, whom you may still see at the National Gallery, whose beauty is no denial, but rather the stamp of their slender, supple strength, young painters and sculptors who held the palette for Leonardo, or wielded the chisel for Michelangelo, and anon threw both aside to take up sword for Guelf or Ghibelline in the narrow streets of Florence.
And her, more fair, more supple smooth than jade, Gleaming among the dark red woods I follow: Now lingering, now as a bird afraid Of pirate wings she seeks the haven hollow.
Prince Andrew liked dancing, and wishing to escape as quickly as possible from the political and clever talk which everyone addressed to him, wishing also to break up the circle of restraint he disliked, caused by the Emperor's presence, he danced, and had chosen Natasha because Pierre pointed her out to him and because she was the first pretty girl who caught his eye; but scarcely had he embraced that slender supple figure and felt her stirring so close to him and smiling so near him than the wine of her charm rose to his head, and he felt himself revived and rejuvenated when after leaving her he stood breathing deeply and watching the other dancers.
--Oh, that cursed, nimble, supple serpent and lurking-witch!
First she gathered it together, stuck the fork into it, then with a rapid, supple movement leaned the whole weight of her body on it, and at once with a bend of her back under the red belt she drew herself up, and arching her full bosom under the white smock, with a smart turn swung the fork in her arms, and flung the bundle of hay high onto the cart.
One would have thought it a suit of armour, both supple and resisting.